Africa-Press – Uganda. Sunday’s Fufa TV Cup encounter between St. Mary’s College Kisubi (Smack) and King’s College Budo was marketed as the blockbuster derby.
In many ways, Fufa looked at it as the flagship tie of the first round of this new competition and the hosts Smack – borrowing from rivalries between the schools in other areas like education, rugby and perhaps hockey – did everything in their powers to make it live up to the billing.
The home side did not disappoint their commendable crowd as they won this encounter 2-0 – courtesy of goals from their captain Mahad Mubiru and halftime substitute Griffin Mwesigwa.
Mubiru struck in the 16th minute and Smack could have doubled the lead through Paul Clovis, who was surprisingly hooked off for Mwesigwa after the first half despite running rings around the Budo defence.
But coach Ronald Mugalu had his faith paid off when Mwesigwa converted at the start of the second half with his first touch off Mubiru’s cleverly weighted cross.
“We had to make home advantage count but we know that Budo will also want to impress their home fans in the second leg,” Mubiru said in the aftermath of the game.
“We have to go there and show again that we are the better team.”
For Budo, the biggest positive they can take from this first round first leg meeting is that they stayed in the tie even when a lethargic first half display threatened to make things worse.
Mwiri lose at home
Earlier in the day, Elvis Kigongo’s strike on the brink of halftime and against the run of play ensured Jinja College won that derby at Busoga College Mwiri.
Mwiri had part of its pitch covered in cloth – a clear show that they were preserving their wicket. The school is more known for cricket but their dominance, although intermittent, over Jinja College showed that if they continue to be incentivized like Fufa are doing, their football could grow too.
The sides reconvene this weekend for the second leg ties that will determine who progresses to the semifinals that are due in a fortnight.
FUFA TV CUP
Results
Smack 2-0 King’s College Budo
Busoga College Mwiri 0-1 Jinja College
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